Quarterlife The Search for Self in Early Adulthood

A pioneering psychotherapist tackles the overlooked stage of Quarterlife—the years of adulthood between adolescence and midlife—and provides a guide to navigate it and thrive.

I’m stuck. What’s wrong with me? Is this all there is? Satya Doyle Byock hears these refrains regularly in her psychotherapy practice where she works with “Quarterlifers,” individuals between the ages of (roughly) sixteen to thirty-six. She understands their frustration. Some clients have done everything “right”: graduate, get a job, meet a partner. Yet they are unfulfilled and unclear on what to do next. Byock calls these Quarterlifers “Stability Types.” Others are uninterested in this prescribed path, but feel unmoored. She refers to them as “Meaning Types.”

While society is quick to label the emotions and behavior of this age group as generational traits, Byock sees things differently. She believes these struggles are part of the developmental journey of Quarterlife, a distinct stage that every person goes through and which has been virtually ignored by popular culture and psychology. 

In Quarterlife, Byock utilizes personal storytelling, mythology, Jungian psychology, pop culture, literature, and client case studies to provide guideposts for this period of life. Readers will be able to find themselves on the spectrum between Stability and Meaning Types, and engage with Byock’s four pillars of Quarterlife development: 
• Separate: Gain independence from the relationships and expectations that no longer serve you 
• Listen: Pay close attention to your own wants and needs 
• Build: Create, cultivate, and construct tools and practices for the life you want 
• Integrate: Take what you’ve learned and manifest something new 

Quarterlife is a defining work that offers a compassionate roadmap toward finding understanding, happiness, and wholeness in adulthood.

Satya Doyle Byock is a licensed psychotherapist, writer, and the director of The Salome Institute of Jungian Studies. Her work is informed by analytical psychology, history, and social justice advocacy. She lives in Portland.